Hope and Despair: A New Generation
by Hida O-Hinku
Summary: When Nozomi Naegi wakes up on a boat in the middle of nowhere, things already seem bad. They get worse when the only way to escape is to murder one of the other captives. Can this new generation stop the Biggest, Most Despair Inducing Event in Human History from happening? Rated T for Language and Violence.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Hey, can you hear me?"

It was a day just like any other. I woke up surprisingly early, early enough to say goodbye to my mom before she went to work. Somebody got murdered, so she had gotten an emergency call. She was probably going to be late coming home, but I was used to it. She was a 000 ranked detective after all. She dealt with murders all the time. When I was younger, she would bring home the files, and I would look them over whenever I thought she wasn't looking. I was proud to call myself a 999 ranked detective.

"Shit. She's not waking up."

I decided to help my dad cook breakfast before I got ready for school. My dad stayed at home to take care of me and my little brother, Len. He was practically the opposite of me, looking like my father while having my mother's cool and composed attitude. I, on the other hand, looked like my mother with my lavender hair, but I definitely was friendlier.

"Please be okay."

I finally finished getting ready and started walking to school. The residential district was right next to the business district, so the walk wasn't too long. It had a dormitory on campus, but I lived close enough to decline. Kibougamine Academy loomed over me, but I had been in attendance too long to be intimidated. I stepped off of the busy sidewalk and through the open front gates, but then everything went black.

The next thing I know, I feel myself lying on tile, with somebody lightly shaking my shoulder. When my eyes finally opened, I saw who was trying to wake me up. I was a guy, who appeared to be about my age. His hair was black, and kind of messy, but his near-white eyes showed definite concern. He looked kind of…_familiar._

"Who're you?" It was a bit rude, but I had just woken up and was still groggy. The concern I saw was now gone, replaced by seriousness.

"Hiro Ikusaba. Ultimate Sniper. Who might you be?"

"Nozomi Naegi. I'm the Super Duper High School Level Detective. What's going on?"

The guy-Hiro- sighed and said, "I know just as much as you do. About half an hour ago I woke up. I saw you passed out on the floor. I tried to wake you up, but you just weren't. You had me worried for a second." He looked around the room before continuing, "We appear to be in a kitchen of some sort."

Standing up, I could see that he was right. It looked like the kitchen of a fancy restaurant. The room was large, but many counters took up most of the space. Most of them had what appeared to be a stove and a sink, and there were many pots and pans hanging over them. There weren't any widows, but strangely enough, there were several security cameras and a TV. The troubling part was the two doors. While one was just a normal, albeit large, wooden door, but the other one was the real problem. It was huge, absolutely gigantic, made of gleaming steel, and there was a giant, valve thing on it. It appeared to be sealed in place.

Hiro spoke up, breaking the silence. "You're the detective, correct? We should investigate."

I started to agree, but I was cut off by a voice coming out of the TV. The screen was still black, and the voice was grating. "Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to wake up! Since Sleeping Beauty over here is finally up, all you morons can finally meet. Everybody go to the Deck!"

As soon as the announcement was over, a loud hissing noise came from the steel door as it swung open. _Well, there's no point in staying around here. _Hiro and I started to leave the kitchen, the atmosphere suddenly oppressive.

"So the guy on the TV said to head to the deck. Do you think that we're on a boat?" I asked.

"It would explain the swaying of the ground." He answered. I hadn't even noticed the swaying. That was impressive, but I guess you would have to notice that kind of thing with a talent like Ultimate Sniper. We passed through another large room surrounded by windows. Past the railings there was nothing but blue. Outside there was a small group of people. _This must be the deck._

**Characters **

**Female**

**1\. Nozomi Neagi, SHSL Detective**

**2\. Nero Melanzie, SHSL Track Runner**

**3\. Kagura Hayashi, Ultimate Gardener**

**4\. Chiyaku Takahashi, SHSL Origami Maker**

**5\. Shigeko Togami, SHSL Actress**

**6\. Ryuko Pekoyama, Ultimate Vigilante**

**7\. Nakashima Souda, SHSL Marine Biologist**

**Male**

**1\. Hiro Ikusaba, Ultimate Sniper**

**2\. Charlie McCrimmon, Ultimate Billiards Pro **

**3\. Naozumi Ishimaru, Ultimate Sketcher**

**4\. Isamu Hashira, Ultimate Arms Dealer**

**5\. Haku Komaeda, SHSL Puppeteer**

**6\. Kuno Oowada, SHSL Espionage**

**7\. Jazz Kuwata, SHSL Rapper**

**8\. Masayosi Amaya, Ultimate Basketball Player**

**9\. Xiang Li, Ultimate Martial Artist**

**Thanks For all those that applied! If your character didn't make it in, then that means that I probably couldn't fit them into the story.**


	2. Introductions

Chapter 2: Introductions

As I pushed the glass door open, the warm air hit me like a wave and fourteen pairs of eyes were staring. I recognized most of them from when I was researching Kibougamine. Half of them were about my age of fifteen, but the other half seemed slightly older. If they were talking before, they certainly weren't now. There were some looks of interest, some of pity, but unfortunately, most were of distrust. It made sense, but I got the feeling that they thought we were the enemy. In my opinion, you could probably slice the tension in the humid air with a rusty spoon.

After what felt like hours, I decided to break the awkward silence by trying to introduce myself. "I'm Nozomi Naegi."

**Nozomi Naegi**

**SHSL Detective**

I looked down, noticing what I was wearing for the first time since I woke up. I could tell my purple hair was in a ponytail, which was normal, but I was wearing my everyday clothes of jeans and a purple t-shirt, which was not. I could have sworn I was wearing a uniform, but then again, it isn't required to wear a uniform on the first day of school, so maybe I just forgot.

Hiro spoke up from behind me. "Hiro Ikusaba." He seemed quieter than when I met him earlier.

**Hiro Ikusaba**

**Ultimate Sniper**

He was easily the tallest person in the group, but he was pretty thin. The sunlight only seemed to make his eyes even brighter. His entire outfit seemed to be grey or black. He was wearing a light grey t-shirt with a dark grey hoodie over it, despite the heat. He was also wearing black gloves, strangely enough. _I wonder why? I don't see why he would wear those without reason._

Finally, after a few more moments of the awkward silence, somebody from the original group introduced themselves. It was a girl with definite bounce in her step. Her dark hair was pulled up into two buns on the sides of her head and she had a blue right eye. I couldn't see the one on the left because it was covered by a white eyepatch with an elegant black rose. She was wearing an indigo t-shirt, with white lining down the bottom, collar, and sleeves. She was wearing white mini-shorts over black tights and legwarmers just above her blue running shoes.

"Hi. I'm Nero Melanzane. You can call me Melanie!"

**Melanie Melanzane**

**SHSL Track Runner**

After Melanie introduced herself, more people started to go. The next person was a young man, though he was obviously older than I was. He seemed to have an easygoing aura. He was wearing a dark blue trench coat that was obviously too large for his slender frame. The sleeves even started to cover his hands, which were wearing black, fingerless gloves. His hair was black and a mess, extending down to his shoulders and slightly covering his grey eyes.

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Haku Komaeda."

**Haku Komaeda**

**SHSL Puppeteer**

The next person to go was another guy, this one with indigo eyes and long, neatly styled blue hair. He was wearing a black tank top with a grey vest over it, jeans, and a purple tie that had lines down it that appeared to read I.O.U. I also noticed that he had what appeared to be a red and blue scarf that was tied securely around his left shoulder. He seemed almost happy to be here. He extended his right hand, which I shook.

"My name's Isamu Hashira. I'm pleased to meet you, Naegi-chan and Ikusaba-kun."

**Isamu Hashira**

**Ultimate Arms Dealer**

I could take a guess as to who the next person was just by her slightly infamous pointed teeth, and the pin on her blue jacket that said "Souda's Mechanics" next to one with a shark on it. She was wearing a white t-shirt that said "Sharks are Awesome," the aforementioned blue jacket, and a somewhat worn out black beanie with a black bow attached to it pulled over blonde, shoulder-length hair. She had unnaturally bright pink eyes, so I could only assume she was wearing contacts.

"Nakashima Souda, at your service!"

**Nakashima Souda**

**SHSL Marine Biologist**

I only recognized the next guy because Len listens to his songs. Not to mention his spiky red hair was pretty hard to miss. He seemed almost bored about the whole thing. He was wearing a black hoodie with a red shirt underneath that looked like it said "Peace and War." He also had a chain with a skull on it around his neck.

"Yo. The name's Axel Kuwata. You would know me as Jazz."

**Axel Kuwata**

**SHSL Rapper**

You could see the next person's confusion in his bright red eyes. His short, black hair was flying everywhere, except for his long bangs tucked behind his ears and held into place with a bobby pin. He was wearing large black t-shirt that had a beautiful, neon bird drawn it, covered by a light grey vest. He had pale blue hoodie tied around his waist and a shining silver key hung around his neck.

"My name is Naozomi Ishimaru. I think."

**Naozomi Ishimaru**

**Ultimate Sketcher**

"H-h-hello. M-my n-n-name is Ch-Chiyaku, b-but you p-p-probably don't care."

**Chiyaku Takahashi**

******SHSL Origami Maker**

In all honesty, I hadn't even seen the tiny girl. She was shorter than me, which was saying something, and it wasn't like she was wearing anything colorful or loud to alert me of her presence. Just light brown, shoulder length hair that was kind of curly and brown eyes.

The next person to go was a girl who just had an aura of elegance. Shiny dark brown curls cascaded down, expertly framing her face and her eyes were a sapphire color. She was wearing an outfit consisting of a black and white, vertically striped sweater over a black shirt, an off white, pleated skirt, and grey, knee height socks. I, of course, had seen the shows and movies she was in, but I didn't actively follow her work.

"My name is Shigeko Togami. I have to assume you've heard of me?"

**Shigeko Togami**

**SHSL Actress**

"Oi. Pleased to meet'cha . The name's McCrimmion." He had an accent. Scottish, maybe?

**Charlie McCrimmion**

**Ultimate Billiards Pro**

The man was almost as tall as Hiro, but he was more broad-shouldered than thin. He easily looked to be the oldest of the group, and dressed the part too. He had on a red dress shirt with a black vest over it. He was also wearing black, pinstriped dress pants, completing the look of somebody you would see on a spy movie. His brown hair was cut short, and the same color of his eyes.

Somebody lightly pushed another boy out. He held out his hand, but his smile was obviously forced and it was plain to see in the young man's dull grey eyes that he didn't want to be here in the slightest, but kudos for trying. In this lighting, his pale skin was nearly translucent. He was wearing a strange combination of clothing: A white dress shirt, but with a black leather jacket over it. The jacket had a grey hood and dark red tribal patterns on the sleeves. His hair was nearly pitch black, extended halfway down his neck, and flew everywhere.

"My name is Masayoshi Amaya. I am pleased to make you acquaintance."

**Masayoshi Amaya**

**Ultimate Basketball Player**

The next person to introduce himself had really long, black hair that was tied in a low ponytail, with his bangs framing his face. I noticed that his eyes were the same color as onyx. He was wearing a V-neck t-shirt underneath a black leather jacket. He also had a long, pure white scarf tied around his neck.

"Xiang Li."

**Xiang Li**

**Ultimate Martial Artist**

"Hey, I'm Kuno Oowada."

**Kuno Oowada**

**SHSL Espionage**

The guy had an outfit that seemed straight out of an old-timey detective movie: white dress shirt, grey slacks, black dress shoes and a beige overcoat. Despite his somewhat formal attire, he seemed kind of chill. His chestnut brown hair was kind of fluffy and covered his right eye. From what I could tell, he had violet eyes like I did.

The only two people who hadn't introduced themselves were two girls.

The tiny girl had straight black hair tied up in two symmetrical pigtails, both covered slightly by a floral bandana. She had a t-shirt with sunflowers on it with a pair of pastel overalls. She was wearing black gardening boots that shone in the sunlight. Two dainty sunflower earrings hung from her ears. She also had violet eyes, making three of us.

The other girl looked young, but only in the face. Her eyes were a pale yellow that held absolutely no emotion. In fact, none of her face held any emotion. She had a dark red beanie with what appeared to be a grey dragon stitched on it pulled over silver hair that stopped just above her chin. Her hair was very curly, and what I could see kind of looked like a sheep. She was wearing cargo pants, a white tank top, and grey and black motocross jacket that appeared to be too big for her.

The one with black pigtails spoke up first, saying, "I'm Kagura Hayashi. You ought to remember the name." Well, she seemed that she was impatient.

**Kagura Hayashi**

**Ultimate Gardener**

"Ryuko Pekoyama." The silver haired girl said.

**Ryuko Pekoyama**

**Ultimate Vigilante**

"Well, now that that's settled," I started, "we should probably start with an investigation. I assume that everyone got the same announcement. Does anyone know what is going on h-"

"Took you morons long enough! None of you even had to walk that far!" I recognized the grating voice.

It was our captor.

**(Just assume you favorite version of the ending theme from the show is playing.)**

**O-Hinku here!**

**After a long wait, the second chapter is finally here! It seemed that the fates aligned against this chapter coming out, from my sister kicking me off the computer, to end of year tests I didn't know about, to the fact that I apparently need glasses. I also split this chapter in half, so the next chapter should be here soon. I hope to update every Friday-to-Saturday.**

**Danganronpa belongs to Spike Chunsoft. Uses of its property are for entertainment uses only. Please support the official release. Characters belong to respective creators.**

**Nozomi Naegi and Hiro Ikusaba Hida O-Hinku**

**Ryuko Pekoyama Vulkodlak**

**Kagura Hayashi xxpandaheroxx**

**Xiang Li and Kuno Oowada HeroinOfDarkness**

**Masayoshi Amaya Chemical X98-Z13**

**Charlie McCrimmion dashunterman**

**Shigeko Togami the meme queen**

**Naozomi Ishimaru HeroNoMore**

**Axel Kuwata .927758**

**Nakashima Souda ninjedi**

**Isamu Hashira DisasterPhoenix**

**Haku Komaeda Shadowplayer360**

**Nero Melanzane FireDusk**


	3. Prologue 1-2 Rules

"Took you morons long enough! None of you even had to walk that far!" It was our captors grating voice. We all looked around, half expecting to see another person. That was not what we saw.

Instead, we saw a teddy bear.

It was black down one side and white on the other, split straight down the middle, with the white half having a small, beady black eye and part of a toothless black grin. On the other side, it was pitch black, with the only color on the whole bear being a red …scar…thing instead of an eye. On the black half, its smile was much larger, with apparently pointy teeth that would be threatening if it weren't sewn on. Its maw and stomach were both white throwing off the balance. The thing was a bit disturbing, but it certainly wasn't terrifying, despite some of the startled reactions it received.

It began to move, which was admittedly pretty creepy, but it was the first thing to break the silence. "Since Purple over here slept in," the stuffed animal with a male voice gestured to me, "we don't have as much time to get this show on the road. You're probably wondering why you're here. You'd have to be a complete dumbass to not know that you all go to Hope's Peak. Well, not anymore! As of right now you are all passengers on my luxury cruise ship."

"But why are we here?" I didn't see who asked, but I assumed it was Axel.

"Well, it would be boring to just watch some teenagers running around. That's where the game comes in! You have to pull off the perfect crime!"

That would make sense. You get a group of teenagers who are the best in the world at what they do, with either skills or connections, get them to perform a crime whilst the real mastermind gets off scot-free. I didn't think it would work, but that didn't get us out of the current situation.

"And what, precisely, would this crime be?" Kagura questioned, obviously displeased.

"Oh, you just have to murder someone on this boat to leave." The monochrome teddy bear replied nonchalantly, as if discussing business at a boring dinner party.

At his explanation, the group had multiple reactions. Most freaked out, some were surveying the crowd with suspicion, while the rest kept their eyes trained on the animatronic. However, we can't afford to panic, though I personally wouldn't blame anyone if they did.

"What makes you think we would even do that?" The words leapt out of my mouth before I thought about the consequences. The deck grew quiet once again. Well, shit. There goes the cool and composed detective image.

"Come again?"

"What makes you think," I continued, "That we would just kill someone? I would rather stay here than kill someone, and I would hope the others feel the same way."

"Upupu. That's adorable. You all still think you can trust each other. Everyone will be participating in the game soon enough. Moving on!" I was brushed off, not that I expected any different. "Since I obviously don't trust you morons to run around, let's lay down the law! If you would please look to your pockets for your ElectroIDs!"

Anyone who had heard of the school had probably heard of the crazy high-tech IDs given to the students. I patted at my pockets, half-expecting to find nothing, instead finding a lump about the size and shape of a smartphone. Pulling it out, I found a black rectangle. It was shiny and smooth, barring what appeared to be a camera on what I assumed was the front side, and on the left side was a tiny, circular button. I did what any sane person would do after finding an electronic ID hidden in one of their pockets while they were unconscious and pressed the button.

The screen opposite to the side with the camera lit up with the Hope's Peak crest: a scepter crossed over a marking that looked like the red thing on the black side of the bear. After the crest disappeared, a picture of me along with some of my basic personal information appeared. A small, glowing arrow told me where the bottom of the screen was. I slid my thumb along it transitioned to a menu. There were three white buttons, two of which were large and placed at the top of the screen while there was a tiny button with a picture of a home on it. The background was set to cherry blossoms with a pagoda in the background. Himeji, I think.

Seeing how the teddy bear wanted to talk about rules, I gently tapped the large space that said Rules, though I admittedly wanted to press the Roster Button. The rules read as follows:

**1\. Students are to only reside on the Hope's End during the class trip. Leaving is an unacceptable use of time. _How exactly are we supposed to leave?_**

**2\. "Nighttime" is from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Some areas are off-limits during Nighttime, so please exercise caution.**

**3\. Sleeping anywhere besides the dormitories will be seen as sleeping in class and will be punished accordingly.**

**4\. With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the Hope's End as you wish.**

**5\. Being in a restricted area is not allowed and will be punished accordingly if caught.**

**6\. Violence against Headmaster xxxxxxxx MONOKUMA is strictly prohibited, as is the destruction of the security cameras.**

**7\. Anyone who kills another student and becomes the "Blackened" successfully will graduate.**

**8\. Additional school regulations may be added as necessary.**

This entire situation is insane. We are all trapped, on a boat in the middle of nowhere, with a psychotic, monochrome teddy bear who claims to be our headmaster, and we all have just been given rules about living together whilst we try to kill each other. I had to take a moment to let everything sink in. This isn't even a prank; this is a kidnapping that is doomed to fail. Most of us are famous and the police are most definitely looking for us.

"Upupupu. I almost forgot your room keys." He pulled out a bundle of keys from who knows where and chucked them all above us. The small pieces of metal attached to larger pieces of wood rained down upon me and the other students. I only hoped that I wouldn't get hit on the head. Of course, I have never been very lucky. I was hit by someone's key, hard, and am most definitely going to get a goose egg. In the onslaught, the "Headmaster" escaped. I picked up the key that hit me and stuffed it in my left pocket. We can worry about rooms later.

I tried to take control of the situation, since I was willing to bet that I was the only one trained in investigative skills. "Hey, everyone, could you please listen up?" I was just ignored.

I tried multiple times to get everyone to pay attention, but it wasn't working. _Story of my life._ A few people, such as Hiro and Kuno were paying attention, but that was about it. I thought about just giving up and letting the teenagers quarrel among themselves, until someone shouted.

"Everybody shut up and listen to Purple!"

Of all the people who would speak up for me, the last person I thought it would be was Charlie. Either he was pissed off and just wanted to continue, or he was nicer than I expected. However, judging by his face, I am going to go with the former.

"Thank you. We should begin an investigation, and I need everyone's cooperation. We should probably split up and at least try to figure out a way to escape. It may seem bad, but if we all work together, we can get out of here. Our friends and family are definitely looking for us. We can't give up hope."

Haku gave a little cheer.

**O-Hinku here! **

**I have no excuse for it being late and short, except that I suck. I get distracted easily.**

**Anyway, there is going to have a lot more characterization in the next chapter. Who would you like to know more about? I would like your opinions. The free time events have already begun to be written. I would also like to know what I need to do to fix. Any suggestions would be welcome!**

**Danganronpa belongs to Spike Chunsoft. Uses of its property are for entertainment uses only. Please support the official release. Characters belong to respective creators.**

**Nozomi Naegi and Hiro Ikusaba Hida O-Hinku**

**Ryuko Pekoyama Vulkodlak**

**Kagura Hayashi xxpandaheroxx**

**Xiang Li and Kuno Oowada HeroinOfDarkness**

**Masayoshi Amaya Chemical X98-Z13**

**Charlie McCrimmion dashunterman**

**Shigeko Togami the meme queen**

**Naozomi Ishimaru HeroNoMore**

**Axel Kuwata XxxInquisitorXxx**

**Nakashima Souda ninjedi**

**Isamu Hashira DisasterPhoenix**

**Haku Komaeda Shadowplayer360**

**Nero Melanzane FireDusk**


	4. Prologue 1-3: Exploration pt 1

"If we all stay in a big group like this, things are going to get complicated. To remedy that, I suggest we all break into small groups. After we're done exploring, we'll meet back up at the dorm rooms. Alrighty then, break!"

Some rolled their eyes at my apparent enthusiasm, but someone has to keep everybody moving. If we don't keep moving, we'll fall into the despair of self pity and mope around instead of getting anything done. Nevertheless, the students began to break off with other people they believed they would get along with. Hopefully, I could find someone to come with me, since I could bounce ideas off of them, not to mention that the investigation wouldn't be nearly as lonely. 'I wonder if Hiro would go with me. He seems nice and would probably notice some things that I missed.'

"HIIIRRROOO-KUUUN!"

"Ack!"

Said boy was currently being tackled by Melanie. The two brunettes crashed into each other at an alarming velocity, but luckily, Hiro was much larger than the eyepatch-wearing track racer, so he managed to catch them both before they toppled over. They did have me worried with how far forward they lurched.

"Melanzane-san, please let go of me." If anything, the white-eyed boy was even quieter than when he introduced himself to the large group of students. Instead of talking, it was more or a panicked yell-whisper.

"Aww, you're no fun Hiro-kun." After a moment of semi-hugging him, she followed his wishes and got off of him, but maintained a hold on his wrist.

"Come explore with me!"

"I-uh...okay?"

The second the words left his mouth, Melanie beamed in excitement and dragged Hiro back inside.

….

I'm glad he's making friends.

It looks like I'm on my own for this one, seeing as how everyone has already split up. Since I'm already here, I think I'll investigate the deck first. I should pay attention to all of the details so I don't have to come back here and inevitably get lost. I am slightly infamous for my terrible navigation skills. A fact that was slightly remedied by the beeping of my ElectroID.

I pulled it out of my pocket and quickly unlocked it. A new button had been added over my background picture of Himeji castle. It looked the same as the other buttons, except this one had the word "Map" on it. I tapped on it, and up came a map of the deck, along with a few icons on it. The first one I noticed was a large white dot, standing just outside the door. 'Is that suppose to be me?' Testing my theory, I stepped away from the door. The dot did the same, appearing to prove my little idea. The other icons on the map were exclamation points of a pink color. When I tried tapping on them, pictures of the other students popped up, effectively showing me their location. I suppose if this was actually Kibougamine, this setup would be kind of cool.

Well, this should make the task of navigating this boat a lot easier.

**Exploration Time**

**[Shuffleboard]**

[Handrails]

[Bar]

[Wall]

[Door]

**Go Here?**

**[Yes]** [No]

In the middle of the dark brown wood of the deck, there is a long, narrow strip of much lighter wooden planks. It was marked with several lines across it at one end and a pyramid at the other. The pyramid itself was split into several sections, each marked with numbers. The tip had a ten; the next, two eights; after that, two sevens; and finally, another ten.

I vaguely remember that this is called a shuffleboard. I think I heard about it from a former classmate when they had gotten home from a cruise. It is popular to put on recreational boats, even though there are few people that actually know how to play it. One of the many mysteries of this world I suppose.

Hm? There's a gold circle at the tip of the pyramid. Looking at it closer, it appears to be the size and shape of a large coin. Stamped on either side was Monokuma's face and something in Latin. It's weight implied that it was actually made of metal, instead of plastic as one would guess with such a silly prop as this. For whatever reason, I stuffed it into my pocket for safekeeping.

**Found KumaCoin**

**Added to Inventory**

[Shuffleboard]

**[Handrails]**

[Bar]

[Wall]

[Door]

**Go Here?**

**[Yes]** [No]

Isamu was casually leaning against the rails, his hair and tie slightly swaying in the humid breeze that had picked up. He seemed to be talking to Chiyaku, who seemed extremely nervous about something. Well, waking up on a boat in the middle of nowhere with no recollection of how they got there and then being told to kill someone is bound to stress anyone out.

I didn't see anything worth explicitly investigating, as I would probably have more opportunities to look at the ocean, but before I could leave to continue the exploration, Isamu turned his attention to me.

"Hi, Nozomi-chan. How goes the investigation?"

Chiyaku then turned to me and gave me a bright smile.

"H-hello, Z-Zomi-chan!"

"Hey guys! The investigation is going fine. I mean, We just started, so I haven't really found anything yet besides a shuffleboard and a weird coin, but like I said, we just started and you guys are the first people I've talked to."

"Well, if there's anyway to help, I'd love to do so."

"S-s-so w-would I!"

"Thank you. That would be really nice."

I meant it. While I can certainly try, solving this mystery by myself would be really difficult, especially when we could all possibly be in danger. Plus, we need every side to this story possible.

"Actually, can I ask you guys to describe the past twenty-four hours or so? Maybe we can figure something out."

Isamu decided to go first. "Well, I spent almost all of yesterday packing." He gave a light chuckle before continuing. "I kind of forgot about it, so things were a little hectic. I ate dinner with my two older sisters, then at about 11 o'clock, I retired for the evening. I woke up a bit late, so I had to rush to get to school on time. The weird thing was, the second I passed through the gate, I got really dizzy and got knocked out. When I came to, I was in the dining room with Kagura-chan. I would up coming out here. In fact, I was one of the first to arrive."

I wished I had my recorder with me. I had the little black recorder for years, and it had been with me through thick and thin. My mom had got it for me when I first became interested in detective work. She had heard me talking to myself while poring over files and told me to record myself so I wouldn't forget anything. I usually carry it around everywhere in case I need to remember something, but I didn't have it with me when I woke up. It would be helpful to have it while interviewing everyone, but I guess I just have to remember the details myself.

I turned to the short girl next to me. "What about you, Chiyaku? Can you recall anything?"

She nodded her head very quickly. "W-w-well, I-I l-live in K-Kyoto so I h-had to take a l-long train ride. I-I got to T-Tokyo a-about an hour b-before school s-s-started, so I d-decided to g-go early. W-w-when I g-got there, I fell a-asleep and w-woke up on the d-deck."

"Thank you for your help. I'm going to go check out the rest of this place."

As I turned around and walked away, I thought about what they said. Both said that they passed out when the got on school grounds, same as me. I can guess that something similar happened to the rest of the students.

[Shuffleboard]

[Handrails]

**[Bar]**

[Wall]

[Door]

**Go Here?**

**[Yes]** [No]

There's a counter by the door, with a sign overhead reading "A Bit of Paradise." There are bar three blue bar stools lined up in front of the counter and shelves set up behind it. The shelves are full of bottles filled with liquids of all sorts of different and pretty colors made soft by the frosted glass. All of the labels on the bottles have extremely cheesy, tropical-themed names pertaining to their colors. They appear to be some kind of booze, but the labels say non-alcoholic in small italics.

On the smooth countertop is another one of those weird coins. I wind up stuffing it into my pocket just like the last one I found. I had to wonder what they were for and how many I could find. Finding these gold coins should pose an interesting challenge while I'm here.

**Found KumaCoin**

**Added to Inventory**

[Shuffleboard]

[Handrails]

[Bar]

**[Wall]**

[Door]

**Go Here?**

**[Yes]** [No]

The sun was getting higher in the sky, and I could feel the heat increasing, the bright light bearing down on me. I should hurry up and check out the rest of the deck and head inside, where there's hopefully some air conditioning. The other side should just be around this corner-

…

Well then.

A gigantic, inflatable wall stood in my path. It had to be at least fifteen feet tall (though it might just appear bigger with my short stature) and was obviously squished between the wall and the handrails. The rubber mass was the same orange color as a life raft and was mostly smooth, with the exception of a few stickers that had various warnings or Monokuma's face on them.

Xiang and Charlie were standing next to it, Xiang reading the various warning labels in focused silence, while Charlie was glaring at the horribly colored rubber, obviously pissed.

I walked over to the railing, stepped on the bottom rung, and leaned almost precariously over the water to try to see where the wall stopped. The thing was, it didn't seem to. The rubber wall appeared to wrap around the rest of the boat, so I couldn't see a definite ending. What on Earth? I stepped down off of the railings, so I wouldn't be leaning over the ocean a ways below.

"So...what exactly is this?"

"Upupupu! Wouldn't you bastards like to know?"

"Gah!" The little animatronic bear spoke up from right behind me, startling the crap out of me. It really was a good thing I had gotten off of the railing or I would have plummeted to my death. Seriously though, where did that thing come from?!

"Upu, let me try to put this in a way you'd understand. That would be boring! B-O-R-I-N-G! Nobody likes a story where they know everything! Especially not a mystery story! The audience will stop tuning in, and then how would everyone remember my lovely face?"

...He doesn't seem to realize that he left a tiny scrap of valuable information slip. Either that, or he (well, I assume it's a he) doesn't care. But, he's going off about keeping this in the dark. Coupling that with the fact that we can't underestimate the mastermind in this situation, we have to assume everything is intentional until proven otherwise.

"Not to mention that you dumbass teenagers constantly break stuff for the heck of it, and I don't have the patience to babysit all sixteen of you and watch you stumble around like blind old men."

"So basically, you can't keep track of al-"

And the two-toned bear was gone again. Where on Earth does that thing go? Does it hide under the floorboards? And it left in the middle of my sentence! How rude! I vowed to figure out this bear and all of it's little secrets.

I turned to look at the orange wall and the two boys that looked nearly as confused as I did. Creepy bear aside, the area is impossible to get to. The inflatable wall is really tall, taking the ability to boost someone over out of the question, and completely smooth. It would take someone in far better physical shape than I to climb this thing. Until then, I should probably just leave the area alone, though the thought of clues on the other side were certainly tempting.

"Hey Xiang, Charlie, could I ask you guys a couple of questions?"

"Of course. What would you like to know?"

"I just need you to describe the last twenty four hours. I'm trying to look for similarities and confirm some things."

Charlie stepped up and shared his story first. "Well, I was on a plane from Scotland to Japan. Between the damn airplane security an' the eleven hour flight with the little shit behind me kicking my seat, it was not well good. I got in about midnight, an' slept in a hotel. I went to the school, passed out, an' woke up here."

I thought about that for a moment. "Did you pass out when you first got to the school, or feel dizzy at all?"

"Yeah, an' a wee bit."

I turned to look at the Chinese man. I don't know how he wasn't melting in a leather jacket and scarf under the scorching sun. "What about you, Xiang?"

He was quiet for a moment before beginning. "I arrived in Japan four days ago. I have spent that time either reviewing the language or preparing for school. Last night I went to bed at 9 P.M. and woke up at 5 A.M. I trained for two hours and then got ready for school. I went to Kibougamine at 7:45 and was knocked unconscious when I stepped through the gate, but I did not feel dizzy before. I woke up in the dining room with Hashira."

"Thank you for your cooperation! I'm just about finished out here, so I'm going inside before I have to be scraped off the ground with a spatula."

With that, I left. Their stories coincide with the other ones I heard. We go to Kibougamine, get knocked out the second we step on the grounds, and wake up on the Hope's End. The dizziness aspect was a bit weird as Isamu and Charlie were, but Xiang, possibly Chiyaku, and I didn't. It might have been a side effect of whatever it was that knocked us out.

[Handrails]

[Bar]

[Wall]

**[Door]**

**Leave Area**

**[Yes]** [No]

Standing before me was a pair of large glass doors. Inside was a new area to explore and students to interview. Taking a deep breath, I pushed open the doors and stepped in.

**O-Hinku here!**

**Guess who's back?!**

**After a long break, I'm finally back with a new chapter! I wasn't able to get Word to work, but I did figure out Google docs, so I'll be using that until further notice.**

**Thank you guys for all of the support you've given me. Seriously. Without it, who knows how long it would have taken to get this chapter out. You guys seriously picked me up from the depths of despair.**

**In DR related news, I saw the first trailer for DR 3. It honestly looks like Threegami might actually be a thing. I also wore my Kirigiri cosplay to SLC ComiCon, and took pictures with Junko Enoshima and Celestia Ludenburg, so that was extremely awesome.**

**Can't wait to see you guys next time! (hopefully next week.)**


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